The Lovers' Box
by aramintasnape
Summary: Severus gives Aurora a rather special gift on their silver wedding anniversary.


Disclaimer: everything from the Harry Potter universe is the property of J.K. Rowling.

This story was originally written for the Romancing the Wizard community on LJ.

**The Lovers' Box**

Aurora lay with her husband in the shade of the cherry tree, watching the sun begin to set, its rays catching the empty champagne glasses and causing the remains of the huge silver cake to shimmer brightly. The cake had been the children's doing. Aurora and Severus had insisted they didn't want anything fancy, just a simple Sunday lunch with the family. Of course, the family had had other ideas.

But now they were alone, left to enjoy the last few hours of the day together. Aurora shifted slightly, snuggling in closer to her husband and stroking his thigh.

"What are you doing to me, wench?" he growled, rolling over suddenly so that she was pinned beneath him.

She giggled. "For an old man, you can certainly move fast when it suits you!"

"_Not_ so much of the old." Aurora gasped as he squeezed her breast.

"How long is it since we made love outside?" she breathed, sliding a hand inside his robes.

"Too long." Severus grinned. "But I'm afraid you'll have to be patient a while longer."

Aurora pouted playfully. "To think I've put up with you for twenty-five years!"

"So I take it you don't want your present, then?" He smirked.

She looked puzzled, touching the diamond pendant he had given her that morning.

"Ah, this is a little extra. Not a present exactly, more of a souvenir." Turning onto his side, Severus pulled out a slim package wrapped in silver paper from the pocket of his robes. "Remember this? I came across it in the attic."

Aurora sat up, intrigued, and pulled off the paper. She gave a gasp of delight as a long, slender, intricately carved wooden box fell into her lap. Strange that she hadn't thought about it for so long, considering it had once been her most treasured possession, the first present he had ever given her.

"_It's called a Lovers' Box," Severus said, with a slight sneer. "But despite its ridiculously sentimental name, it's an extremely useful device. After all, we don't want the whole castle knowing about our private affairs, do we?"_

_It sat on her desk in the astronomy tower, where every night she would gaze at it, waiting hopefully for his message. An identical box sat on his own desk in the dungeons, allowing them to send messages back and forth without risk of interception or loss. Hers was charmed to open only at her touch. Her heart would leap with joy each time the crystal set in the centre of the lid glowed a bright purple, and at the touch of her index finger, the lid would open to reveal the small scroll of parchment, which usually bore only a few words._

Tonight. 11.30.

S.

_By the time he finally arrived at the top of the tower a few hours later, she would be frantic for him, covering him with hungry kisses and tearing at his clothes. But he would rarely give in to her desire for instant gratification, preferring to tease her almost to breaking point before finally allowing her what she so longed for._

_She managed to retrieve the box before fleeing the school, two years later, after the terrible night of the murder. Terrified and confused, she did not dare attempt to contact him and spent the next year trapped in a black mire of depression. Then came news of the battle at Hogwarts; Severus was barely alive, but apparently innocent._

_She was refused access to his sick bed in St Mungo's. He was technically a prisoner, she was told, until such time as the Wizengamot passed judgment. While he hovered between life and death, a heartbroken Aurora devoured the Daily Prophet for news, weeping with relief upon reading that he had been granted a pardon and was now a free man. But by then, sufficiently recovered, he had discharged himself from hospital and vanished. It was then that she remembered the Lovers' Box._

Aurora looked at her husband, tears shining in her eyes. "This brought us back together."

"Yes." He frowned, hugging her tightly. "I've upset you. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No. It's the loveliest present you've ever given me. Twice."

They laughed.

"So, can I still tempt you even after all this time?" She slid her robes off her shoulders, longing to feel his warm body against hers.

"Oh God, yes."

She abandoned herself to him with a sigh of pleasure.


End file.
